It's been a frantic December, let me tell you. Of course, the hectic pace and overwhelming to-do list was of my own making. Obviously I misplaced my goals for 2010 and completely forgot what they were when I agreed to take on much too much before the festive season. Le sigh.

But here I am, delighted to wring out 2010 so that a shiny New Year, full of opportunity, adventure and perhaps a coupon or two can begin. Before I bid the old year adieu, let's take a look at those pesky goals I created and see where I went wrong. ;)

1. Go for it
Score: 65%
Yes, I'm hard on myself. But, looking back at the past twelve months, I could have been more proactive (or simply active). The majority of the score comes from me flying out on my own to attend the Lone Star Writing Conference in Houston this October. I went there alone and came back with a ton of friends with awesome accents! I'm still delighted by how much fun I had and the great opportunities attending a smaller conference offered. (Fingers crossed that something else comes from it, like those requested pages, I'll keep you posted!)

2. Finish what you start
Score: 89.5%
This one almost did me in, but I managed to finish most of the projects I wanted to this year. For those items not yet crossed off the list, such as taking over the world and reading some more books from my TBR pile, I'm well on my way to completing them by Valentine's Day... or Christmas 2013!

3. Think before taking on new things
Score: 100% (personal stuff); 70% (work stuff)
I spent way too much time working during the month of December and not enough time doing anything else like sleeping or spending time with the kitten of mass destruction (and the husband). That's no way to live.

4. Pay it forward
Score: 75%
This one was hard to do on some days, easy on others. Especially when you run into WMBS (well-meaning but stupid) types. Oops, that was my inside voice. Le sigh.

5. Clear out the clutter
Score: 90%
Yes, I still have some emotional baggage, but that's okay. That's what keeps things interesting. One big thing that has helped with the clutter reduction is staying out of the shopping mall. Huh. Or, as DH likes to call it, "shopping with a purpose". It goes like this: when you go to a store to purchase an item, you go to the store, pick up said item, pay for it and, get this, leave the store and the shopping mall! Crazy, I know, but it seems to work.

It appears that reducing the number of goals to achieve down to five from 10 didn't make them any easier to achieve. Hmm. Could it be that perhaps I didn't choose goals that resonated with my needs?

Shameless plug: Whaddya know? I wrote an article for Connected Magazine's website that covers that topic. Here's a link to my article, Resolutions That Work.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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